Electric-current collector



2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor George W Bower,

His Abborney G. w. BOWER ELECTRIC CURRENT COLLECTOR Filed Nov. 27, 1925Fig. 4.

Feb. 7, 192 s,

Patented Feb. 7, 1928..

UNITED enonen vr. nownn, or scn'nnnornnv, nnw' ronn, assrenon r0 onnnnnnELno'rnIo COMPANY, a conrornrrron or new roan.

Application filed November 27, 19525.

The present invention relates to electric railways and more particularlyto current collectors whereby electric power :tor actuation of the carmotors is received from a stationary trolley wire suspended along theroadway.

Trolley wires are generally suspended over the roadway and the currentcollector mounted on the root or top part of the car with itswire-engaging part :t'reely movable up and down according to the varyingelevations of the wire. There are. however, elcc tric systems on whichsuch location oi? the trolley wire above the roadwa would be a source ofdanger to human bei or liable to interfere with traiiic, as where aroadway is used in common by steam locomotives and by electriclocomotives, and in consequence thereof it is necessary to suspend thetrolley wire to one side of and removed from the roadway. On account ofsuch side location of the trolley wire, the terms or" current collectors in general use are impractical.

The object of my invention is the provi: sion of an improved electriccurrent collector which shall function eiliciently with troll wiressupported a considerable distance to one side of a roadway, which shallbe adapted to be folded close to thevehicle mounting the same when notin operation which shall be adapted to withstand rough usmge and whichmay be operated with facility.

Une embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings inwhich 1 is a front elevation of my current collector showing thecollector shoe in full lines in inactive or folded position and indotted lines in extended and operative position; Fig. 2 is a right-sideelevation of the current collector drawn to a larger scale a with partsshown broken aw Fig. 3 plan of the operating means oi tie collectortalren on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line1 4; 01 2, and Fig. 5is a perspective of the operating cam with itscoacting crank arm raised above its normal position for salre ofclearness of illustration.

As indicated in the drawings my current collector comprises a base 1pivotally supported on a thrust bearing 2, with a swinging contact arm 3pivoted to the upper side thereof and operating means 4: at the lower1N? COLLECTGR.

Fierial No. 71,557.

end of a hollow shaft and a rod connected respectively to the base andthe swinging contact arm.

The thrust bearing 2 is supported on a :trame 5 extended above the root6 of the vehicle near one side thereof, whil the operating means 4 islocated inside the car roof.

The base 1 comprises a. box beam 7 having bearing plate Shear one endsupported upon the thrust bearing 2 and at the opposite end is a crossbar-9 with both ends apertured for the passage of threaded rods 10having nuts 11 on their outer ends, while their inner ends connect withhelical tension springs 12 whose opposite ends are similarly connectedby rods 13 and nuts 14 to a cross bar 15 carried on the lower end of theswinging contact arm 3 and passing beneath its pivotal point ofconnection 16 to the base.

The swinging contact arm 3 comprises a cast metal box member 17 havingbeneath its free end a clamping plate 18 adapted to be bound by setscrews 19 upon an inserted end of a wooden pole 20. The opposite end oi?the wooden pole 20 has attached thereto a metallic contact shoe 21. 'lhe shoe 21 comprises a saher-shaped spine 22 of cast aluminum havingattached to its curved upper surface by means 01 rivets 23 strips ofhard drawn copper 2d. The lower end of the aluminum spine is -forked andsecured by rir" 25 to the wooden pole and it is also provided with setscrews 26 tor electrically connecting the contact shoe to a flexibleconductor 2'? which leads to the car circuit, The springs 12 normallyact to urge the swinging contact arm 8 upwardly into engagement with theunderside oi the trolley wire 28 and in opposition to the retracting rod29 connected thereto by a clevis 30.

The operating means consists oi? a rectangular frame of angle irons 31connected to a cast hanger 32 supported by set screws 33 from the lowere d of a tubular housing 8% connected at its piper end to a plate 85upon which the thrust bearing 2 is seated. In the frame are mounted anair cylinder 36 and two longitudinal guide bars 3!" and 38 on which acam block 39 is freely slidable under the pneumatic pressure in thecylinder 36 communicated thereto by the piston rod 40.

The cam block 39, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 5, has a vertical channel41 where by it clears the retracting rod 29 and its guide bearing 42 andthe lower edges adjacent the channel ll are provided with horizontalshoulders 43 which incline upwardly at the tor-ward end and are adaptedto engage with rollers ell on a little truck to car ried at the lowerend of the retracting rod 29, so that as the cam block 39 is drawntoward the rear end of its travel the rollers id ride up the inclinedportion of the ways 43 and permit the collector shoe to rise under therecoil of its springs 12.

The truck i5 is stayed in place by a yoke 46 pivotally connected theretoand to transverse bolts 17 carried in the end of the angle iron frameopposite to the air cylinder 86.

In order to swing the collector outwardly and inwardly at right anglesto the ve-- hicle concurrently with the up and down control movementsthereof, the cam block 39 is provided in its upper side with an L-shapecl slot 48, the walls of which engage a knob 1-9 at the end of acrank arm 50 rigid- 1y connected to a tubular shaft 51 and guide bearing12 by a set screw 52. The tubular shaft 51 extends upwardly through thehousing 34.- and thrust bearing 2 and is provided at its upper end witha plate 011 which the base plates is mounted. In order that the sideswing of the collector may take place without twisting of the retractingrod 29, the latter is provided with a swivel joint 54.

The air cylinder 36 is connected in well known manner by pipes andvalves to a supply of compressed air (not shown).

When the driver desires to move the current collector from inoperativeposition, as shown in full lines Fig. 1 to its operative position asshown in the dotted lines of that figure, he controls the entrance ofthefpressure air to retract the piston rod 1-0 and thereby moves the camblock 39 to the left, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which byreason of itsslotted engagement with the crank arm 50 causes the tubular shaft 51 andconnected base 1 to turn clockwise through an angle of 90, thelongitudinal portion of the L. slot 48 thereafter pern'iitting furthertravel of the cam block 39 until the inclined ends of its shoulders 43pass the rollers 4%.: and permit the collector arm 3 to rise intoengagement with the trolley wire under the recoil of the springs 12.When the collector is to be retracted from operative posi tion, thedriver similarly controls the pressure fluid to move the cam block 39 tothe right, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with the resultant steps executedin inverse order to that just described.

While I have shown and described the best embodiment of the inventionknown to me, I do not desire to be restricted thereto.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is,

1. An electric current collector comprising a sliding contact armnormally engaging the current supply conductor in a plane transversethereto and movable into inactive position in a plane parallel thereto,means for pivotally supporting said contact arm for horizontal andvertical movements, and means to insure the concurrent relativemovements oi. said contact arm.

An electric current collector comprising a rotatably mounted base, acontact arm pivoted on said base transversely to the axis thereof,yiehlable means for actuating said arm in one direction, and means toinsure the concurrent rotation of said base and the movement of said armin opposition to the actuating means thereof.

3. An electric current collector comprising a base rotatably mounted ona vertical axis, a contactarm horizontally pivoted on said base, sprinmeans operating to move the tree end oi? said arm upwardly, and means toinsure concurrent depression of said arm and the partial rotation ofsaid base.

t. An electric current collector comprising a rotatably mounted base, acontact arm pivoted on said base, yieldable means for actuating said armin one direction, a crank connected to said base, a retractile rodconnected to said arm, and a cam block operatively engaging said arm andsaid rod to effect concurrent movements of said base and said contactarm.

5. An electric current collector comprising a rotatably mounted base, acoaxial extension therefrom provided with a crank, a contact arm mountedon said base on a pivot transverse to the axis thereof, a connection rodconnected to said arm and extending in substantial alignment with saidbase extension, and a cam block operatively engaging said rod and saidcrank.

6. An electric current collector comprising a rotatable base, a coaxialextension therefrom provided with a crank, a springactuated contact-armpivotally mounted on said base, a retractile rod connected to saidcontact arm and extending into proximity to said crank, a cam blockprovided with an L-shaped slot for engagement with said crank and withinclined ways for engagement with said retractile rod, and mean forreciprocating said cam block.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day ofNovember, 1925.

GEORGE W. BOWER.

